


dreams of spring

by crickets



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-19
Updated: 2012-08-19
Packaged: 2017-11-17 14:11:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/552412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crickets/pseuds/crickets





	dreams of spring

Gale dreams of spring.

District 2 ain't much for sleeping under the stars in winter. 

Not that it was back home for that matter, but it still doesn't mean he misses it any less.

When the snow finally melts away, and the first green that isn't made of pine shows its face, he gets itchy feet. He calls off work, follows the familiar trail behind his house where he hunts and thinks of Katniss mostly. There will never be a day in the woods that doesn't call to mind her face, her laugh, the way she rolled her eyes at his ranting but tried to look terribly interested when he looked directly at her, the way she made her voice go soft just when he needed her to, even if he didn't quite know it yet. 

He emerges from the woods with his satchels full and a powerful urge to board a train home. 

For a little while. 

_Just in case._

\- 

Katniss shows up on a Tuesday after the onion snow. 

She's got a sad smile on her face, her hair pulled back into a braid, a full pack slung across her shoulder, mud on her boots from the walk up the drive, and Gale thinks maybe he's dreaming or gone back in time or both. 

"Hey, Catnip," he says and lets her fall into his arms, and it's easy that way, like always, like it used to be. 

"I missed you," she whispers this into his ear, and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up when he doesn't say, _Me too._

\- 

She doesn't wear a wedding ring. 

_Gale notices that right away._

She drinks three full glasses of wine and follows him to his room that night. She's warm and soft beside him and she kisses him until he's near-dizzy, and then she curls against him, falls asleep beneath his chin. 

He stays awake as long as he can, because there's a part of him that still thinks when he wakes up she'll be gone. 

-

She doesn't really talk about why she's there. 

Gales suspects something about the weather, the woods, sleeping under the stars for the first time in months, an urge to peel the layers back and renew, just like the trees do every year. _Like always._

"How long you staying?" he asks, three days in. 

Katniss watches him over her breakfast, sets down her coffee mug. "Depends," she says. "How long am I welcome?"

 _Gale smiles._

_-fin_


End file.
